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Angie's List Acquired for $500M by IAC

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Re: Angie's List Acquired for $500M by IAC

#91

Post by Endy »

birken wrote: post #38

As somebody that worked for a competitor and knows a lot about both of these companies, I can't say for certain what company is going to "win" local services but I can promise you both of these companies will lose (or I guess you could say Angie's List has now already lost). Angie's List went from a membership based review service and tried to unsuccessfully turn it into a marketplace which never worked. In the proce…

I'm actually going to disagree on the ServiceMagic comment that the contractor doesn't care.

I worked for a local contractor for several years, and we had to care, if anything, more, about those orders. Those jobs were the ones most likely to file with the BBB if something went wrong. Plus, enough bad reviews and they actually used to hide low-ranked companies.

Re: Angie's List Acquired for $500M by IAC

#92

Post by Naritai »

birken wrote: post #38

As somebody that worked for a competitor and knows a lot about both of these companies, I can't say for certain what company is going to "win" local services but I can promise you both of these companies will lose (or I guess you could say Angie's List has now already lost). Angie's List went from a membership based review service and tried to unsuccessfully turn it into a marketplace which never worked. In the proce…

Is there someone who _is_ going to win?

Re: Angie's List Acquired for $500M by IAC

#93

Post by amarghose »

timr wrote: post #61
nunez wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ANYTHING is better than Yelp. It literally does everything in the book to get you to download the app (to collect your user data, presumably) and is literally designed from the ground up to promote businesses that pay them to be higher on the index. Their sales tactics are borderline abusive, too. They will hunt you down forever until you sign a package with them, and they give you zero time to think about whether th…

"and is literally designed from the ground up to promote businesses that pay them to be higher on the index." This is false. Source: I worked there, on search. You cannot pay to rank higher in search.

This might be true technically but it's common knowledge that not paying will negatively affect perfectly good reviews. To the point that reviews that were ok while we paid aren't the instant we stop.

You can argue whatever you want about your former employers but convincing SBOs that Yelp aren't extortionist scumbags based on this detail is not going to fly.

Source: I work directly with maid services and trust in Yelp is at an all time low. Literally the first comment when they are mentioned in our private group is something along the lines of "Die in a grease fire" or "F*ck Yelp". And this is from some of the nicest ladies (mostly) that you'll meet.

Re: Angie's List Acquired for $500M by IAC

#94

Post by ryanwaggoner »

Endy wrote: post #91
birken wrote: post #38

As somebody that worked for a competitor and knows a lot about both of these companies, I can't say for certain what company is going to "win" local services but I can promise you both of these companies will lose (or I guess you could say Angie's List has now already lost). Angie's List went from a membership based review service and tried to unsuccessfully turn it into a marketplace which never worked. In the proce…

I'm actually going to disagree on the ServiceMagic comment that the contractor doesn't care. I worked for a local contractor for several years, and we had to care, if anything, more, about those orders. Those jobs were the ones most likely to file with the BBB if something went wrong. Plus, enough bad reviews and they actually used to hide low-ranked companies.

BBB is also going the way of the yellow pages.

Re: Angie's List Acquired for $500M by IAC

#95

Post by rhizome »

exta wrote: post #62
throwawaylalala wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pretty sure TA does the same...

It does not! At least it did not 8 years ago when I worked there. Obviously a lot can change, but they realized the one competitive advantage they had that kept others out of the market was the huge catalog of user reviews. While other things may be fudged for profitability, there was a clear line between content and advertising we didn't cross. There are quite a few TA people on HN. Maybe one will chime in?

Citysearch has/had a huge database of reviews, too. Didn't keep anybody out of the market, thankfully.

Re: Angie's List Acquired for $500M by IAC

#96

Post by icantdrive55 »

ryanwaggoner wrote: post #94
Endy wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm actually going to disagree on the ServiceMagic comment that the contractor doesn't care. I worked for a local contractor for several years, and we had to care, if anything, more, about those orders. Those jobs were the ones most likely to file with the BBB if something went wrong. Plus, enough bad reviews and they actually used to hide low-ranked companies.

BBB is also going the way of the yellow pages.

Yea--I think they used to be good, but now I'm not sure what they do. They have some flaky companies on that site with glowing ratings?

All these companies started out with the seemingly right mission, and got our attention; they then get too cute, clever, big, or listen to that monetize speech too many times form the clever Harvard MBA.

All I want is a list of fair companies--period.

I don't need a detailed rating system. You're on the list,or off. I know if you take on it (all business at once) all at once, it is complicated.

I'm thinking about a small list of fair companies, something that can grow. Maybe a 501C3? Just a list of ethical/fair business, and people with ethics. Yea--that list will be small.

I want to name my insurance company right now, but it probally wouldn't be the time. They spend very little on advertisements, while keeping their rates fair.

I might put up a simple website called "The List". Start off very small, and just put up business/people in my area that I personally know are fair/ethical. Promise to never sell out. Ask for donations if it got big, or I needed to hire people. Maybe it could be done with the right data, ip tracers, and staff who can sniff out the fakers.

Re: Angie's List Acquired for $500M by IAC

#97

Post by ghaff »

jader201 wrote: post #48

I have used Angie's List for a few recent jobs, if for nothing else, a yellow pages of businesses with at least some feedback attached. I'm aware of potential, if not clear, risk of bias, but I struggle finding other alternatives that have both quantitative and unbiased feedback. And unfortunately, I've not had much luck historically going off word of mouth. Has anyone else had any luck with alternatives?

Nothing consistent. Part of the problem is that a lot of local contractors and businesses still somewhere around 1995 in term of technology. And it's probably even worse when you get even a short distance away from urban centers. I actually find the Yellow pages can still work better than the alternatives. If someone only has 2 reviews they might as well not have any.

Re: Angie's List Acquired for $500M by IAC

#98

Post by hantusk »

jader201 wrote: post #48

I have used Angie's List for a few recent jobs, if for nothing else, a yellow pages of businesses with at least some feedback attached. I'm aware of potential, if not clear, risk of bias, but I struggle finding other alternatives that have both quantitative and unbiased feedback. And unfortunately, I've not had much luck historically going off word of mouth. Has anyone else had any luck with alternatives?

In Denmark - I use trustpilot.com. Even for "offline" local businesses, their nondescript websites are usually rated. If not, I do not consider them.

Alternatives are my network with personal recommendations

Re: Angie's List Acquired for $500M by IAC

#99

Post by tmaly »

covercash wrote: post #19
narrator wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is why TripAdvisor is better, in my experience, for restaurants than Yelp. If I'm not mistaken, TripAdvisor makes most of its money off of hotel booking referrals.

Foursquare is my secret weapon whenever I need to impress with restaurant selection.

I am just working on my own solution for myself, I gave up on foursquare and yelp.

Re: Angie's List Acquired for $500M by IAC

#100

Post by tmaly »

erikpukinskis wrote: post #58
dhd415 wrote: post #2

Not specifically apropos of the buyout, but my experience with Angie's List has been similar to that of Yelp, that is, businesses that paid to advertise on AL were better able to maintain high rankings. The top-rated companies were not the best from either a quality or price perspective. While it's a great idea to crowd-source referrals for contractors like that, it's unfortunate that that model falls prey to the sam…

This will always be true for any subjective rating system, i.e. stars, upvotes, etc. The solution is classification instead of ranking. I am more interested in a Mediterranean place that cooks falafel to order and has tahini sauce than I am in a 4-star Mediterranean restaurant. Conveniently those are all verifiable facts, so there's no need to wrestle with subjectivity.

I have a solution I am working on that might interest you.
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